In general, image data that has been obtained by an image sensor having an image sensing device such as a CCD or CMOS is subjected to image processing within the image sensor and is converted (developed) into reversibly compressed or non-compressed standard-format image data such as image data in the TIFF format. The reason for adopting reversibly compressed or non-compressed image data is to put the image data in a form in which the image data that prevailed at the time of capture will not be lost. For example, as indicated by operation 1 in an image sensor 101 shown in FIG. 14, the general practice is for the image sensor itself to execute all of a series of processing operations that include converting (image processing) a signal obtained from an image sensing device such as a CCD to standard image data reproducible by another device and writing this image data to a recording medium. However, in a system of this kind, a user cannot reproduce the image data upon changing image processing parameters such as white balance and gamma conversion after photography.
An expedient for dealing with the above problem is to make it possible for an external device to be supplied with the digital image data (raw data) per se of a CCD signal or the like obtained by an imaging operation. In accordance with this approach, a user is capable of employing a personal computer or the like to create image data upon changing image processing parameters such as white balance and gamma conversion of image data that has been obtained by an image sensor. According to this arrangement, there is an implementation, as indicated by operation 2 in the image sensor 101 of FIG. 14, in which digital image data obtained as a result of imaging is recorded on a recording medium as is, the recording medium is loaded in a personal computer 102 and the digital image data is read out to the personal computer 102 from the recording medium, or the image data is transmitted to the personal computer 102 directly from the image sensor by communication. As a result, the digital image data is subjected to processing (processing corresponding to operation 1) similar to that within the image sensor by software running on the personal computer 102, whereby the image data is converted to standard image data and developed.
However, image development processing, etc., performed by a product A that uses a CCD having a primary-color filter (a primary-color CCD) differs from that performed by a product B that uses a CCD having a complimentary-color filter (a complementary-color CCD). As a consequence, the prior art is such that with the arrangement for implementing operation 2 described above, signal processing software for executing a plurality of types of processing for generating a luminance signal and/or processing for generating a color signal must be selected by the user manually in accordance with each product. In addition, in a case where image data is transferred to a personal computer or the like and the image data is to be processed by the personal computer, the user does not know what signal processing method to apply to the raw data that has been output from the image sensing device, i.e., whether signal processing for a primary-color filter or signal processing for a complementary-color filter should be executed. Hence, there is the possibility that the wrong signal processing will be executed.